In solidarity with Japan, from the American players

[Rutelor]

Watching the images and reading the news of the recent developments in Japan has mixed awe with horror, empathy with alarmed concern, and--above all--stirred up desire to help in the minds of all. Especially those impotently standing on this distant side of the planet.

First of all, we want to convey our heartfelt feelings of solidarity and support to the Japanese members of our Linkshells, servers and gaming community at large, as well as all members of Square Enix, and reassure them of the fact that the eyes and hearts of their gamemates, as those of the entire planet are fixed on the eastern coast of Honshu.

We have only good thoughts in mind for you and your families.

Also, for the benefit of those among us willing to help, below please find a list of several of the organizations rallying from many countries in the world to aid the beleaguered Japanese people.

The Red Cross
Americares
Global Giving
Doctors Without Borders
Mercy Corps

I am sure there are many other organizations that stand ready to help, so it would be becoming if you want to share the website of your favorite charity via this mailing list.

The best of our energy goes to the people of Japan in this hour of trial.

[Kilta_Firelotus]

My hearts to the japanese.

[Jynx]

While I'm not saying do all we can do help, isn't Japan not accepting outside help "yet" so donating to American services that act in these situations wont really do Japan alot of good.

If Japan calls for help then I'd surge my donations to these people, holding on to mine until I hear they are accepting the help.

[Kilta_Firelotus]

nope relief is already over in japan. Least from massachusetts. One of the mass democrats already talked about it.

[Corrderio]

While I'm not saying do all we can do help, isn't Japan not accepting outside help "yet" so donating to American services that act in these situations wont really do Japan alot of good.

If Japan calls for help then I'd surge my donations to these people, holding on to mine until I hear they are accepting the help.

Nah they're asking for help. IIRC they did say they were prepared for outside help. Sucks I don't have the money to donate or I'd do that, doubt I could go there and help myself since I don't think I could take the emotinal toll of seeing all that.

[Rutelor]

The organizations I listed in the original post all have donation drives already in place and are currently active in relief operations in Japan. If you visit their websites you'll find donation links specifically geared towards aid to Japan. Below you'll find the same list with the URLs of their sites attached.

Red Cross: http://american.redcross.org/site/Pa...FrontPagePanel

Americares: https://secure.americares.org/site/D...m6tn74.app205b

Global Giving: https://secure.americares.org/site/D...m6tn74.app205b

Doctors Without Borders: http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org...e/overview.cfm

Mercy Corps: https://www.mercycorps.org/donate/japan

[Paksenarrion]

I would advise people not to donate to Red Cross. They are known to "misplace" the money they get. If you want to donate to Red Cross, donate blood. That's what they were made for.
Doctors without borders is more trustworthy than Red Cross. Or at least in my opinion.

[Kazimir]

Paksenarrion is right, if possible try to avoid donating to the Red Cross. The majority of the money you donate will not even go to helping people. About 39 cents to the dollar will be used by them. If you want most of your money to be used to helping people I would recommend The Salvation Army. The guy that runs the charity only makes $13,000 a year as opposed to The Red Cross's $645,000 a year for their CEO. Something like .93 cents per dollar will go to helping The Salvation Army's causes.

I'm not sure if they are taking donations for this but UNICEF is even worse, probably about .14 cents per dollar will go to helping their causes.

Link to The Salvation Army: https://donate.salvationarmyusa.org/...FLRNAIkLRK1NIG


I hope all of you at Square Enix and your families are doing well. My heart goes out to you.

[Sheeoni]

I have heard similar things as Paksenarrion has. As always, when offering aid through charities, ensure you are making an educated decision by doing your research first. A good place to start would be a review site for charities if you are serious and would really like to help. You can review statistics on many charities and make a donation based on the information provided. One such site is here:

http://www.charitynavigator.org/inde...view&cpid=1221